This spartan girl’s school in Pune marked the debut of Case Design in India

The sophistication seen in Case Design's luxurious home projects is also evident in Avasara Academy in Pune

Situated on the outskirts of Pune in the village of Lavale, the Avasara Academy is a progressive secondary school for girls

For a while now, Mumbai-based firm, Case Design, has been designing—with great restraint and grace—sanctuaries for living amid urban chaos. And although these residences have now become a sort of calling card for the studio, their very first commission is one they are still working on a space meant as a ‘sanctuary for learning’.

Situated on the outskirts of Pune in the village of Lavale, the Avasara Academy is a progressive secondary school for girls. Work on the project started in 2013 and the four-acre campus includes six buildings, one of which is ready and functional. The entire project is expected to be complete in early 2019. For Samuel Barclay, founder and principal architect of Case Design, Avasara was a giant leap towards establishing a design practice in India.

Landscaping is a major part of the academy’s design, as the entire plot on which the school is being built is barren. “The site is beautiful and has a lot of potential, but it also requires tremendous effort,” says Barclay. “Collecting and managing simple resources like water have been two of the starting points for us. Everything grew out of that.”

Case Design is working with landscape designer Hemali Samant to green the area, and Copenhagen-based visual artist Malene Bach to oversee the use of colour in the different spaces. To enliven a land whose eventual purpose is to serve as a crucible for the growth of bright young minds, Barclay said his firm looked at revamping the landscape the way a farmer would. “We tried to take advantage of as much of the natural beauty as possible; everything had to be practical almost to the point of being essential. If something in the design didn’t function, it couldn’t be considered,” he says.

As is typical of Case Design’s projects, it’s in the tiny details—the door handles, latches, rustic charpoys, bamboo screens that adorn the facade—that their keen eye for craftsmanship is seen. The mosaic floors, marble cubbies and the blockwork walls made from recycled fly ash were meticulously crafted by frequent Case Design collaborator Rameshwar Bhadhwa and his team.

“We tried to make a building that was economically efficient in the places that it needed to be so that we could utilize financial resources and reclaimed materials in a way that communicated the thought and care that went into how they were made,” says Barclay.

Ostensibly an educational institution, Avasara is also a home away from home for the students and for Case Design, probably their biggest learning curve.